Listmas 2017: The Duck’s 2017 Gaming List

Merry Listmas, dear readers! With the end of the year growing ever nearer, I thought it would be fun to look back on all the games I had played in 2017. It’s been a great year for gaming, not to mention an extremely productive one. I mean, wowie! Fifteen games? How did I manage that!

1: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (March – April): The first non-ongoing game I played in 2017 was the absolutely amazing Breath of the Wild. It would be an understatement to say this massive new Zelda game blew my mind, but yeah. It blew my mind. Kapow!

2: Yooka-Laylee (April): The next game I had really looked forward to was Yooka-Laylee. In the end, it was an odd mix of nostalgia and utter frustration. Some of the glitches were funny, though. Taking damage when no enemies are even around. Yeah. Hilarious.

3: Kingdom Hearts 2.8 (April – June): I have no idea what the heck is happening with Kingdom Hearts titles these days. Even so, I keep supporting the series, so it clearly hasn’t put me off my game too much. Heh, bad puns. Ahem, though I had played through most of Dream Drop Distance on the 3DS, this was the first time I had actually completed the game. I even beat Julius! He’s horrifying.

4: Super Mario Galaxy (2016 – May): I began recording this game for our Youtube channel in 2016, but I didn’t finish my second 100% playthrough of Super Mario Galaxy until this year. Do I still despise the ball levels as much as my first playthrough? Heck yeah!

5: Banjo-Kazooie (June – July): For the longest time, I had dearly wanted to record the N64 Banjo-Kazooie titles for our Youtube channel, and at long last, I finally did just that. But not before I downloaded them on the XBox 360, which was…an interesting process, to be sure. Let’s just say it’s a good thing I have a random collection of Ethernet cables lying around.

6: Banjo-Tooie (July): Once Banjo-Kazooie was completed, my fun was not over because I still had this gem’s delightful sequel to keep me busy. Let me tell you, going on adventures with Banjo and his wise-cracking breegull companion never gets old. I just…refuse to deal with Canary Mary anymore. I’m so done with her….

7: Luigi’s Mansion (July): I’ve played this game countless times, but it’s still good when you’re in the mood for a short romp through a haunted mansion infested with ghosts. What, of course that’s fun!

8: Super Mario World (July – August): 2017 was the year that Super Mario World’s reign of terror came to an end. I had never beaten this game before, so Mother Duck and I teamed up and completed this retro classic once and for all!

9: Final Fantasy XII (2016 – September): Another game from 2016, I finally beat Final Fantasy XII for the second time. I’m proud to say I managed to complete everything…but the Yiazmat fight. It was a horrid experience, and I will never try it again.

10: Mega Man X (September): It was thanks to our Youtube commenter Ehrisaia O’Shannon that I was inspired to play and record my very first Mega Man game. While it was a pretty challenging little escapade, I finally prevailed after a lot of game overs and a lot of practice.

11: New Super Mario Bros U (September): Okay, so I started playing this game years ago, but I didn’t manage to conquer it until just a few months ago. I think my victory over Super Mario World was enough to instill in me the confidence I needed to finish this game.

12: Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (September): Ah, another one of my favorites. I make a point to play this game once every few years. It’s kind of like my Banjo-Kazooie for the PlayStation. I also recorded it, so you’ll be seeing it on our Youtube channel in the near future….

13: Undertale (October): This Earthbound-inspired RPG is easily one of the best games I’ve ever played. Ever. It’s rare that I go into a game with high expectations and am still thoroughly impressed. The fact that, after all these years, I can find games that surprise me…it fills me with determination.

14: Little Nightmares + The Depths and the Hideaway (October – November): Now this was an intriguing, little horror game. Not only was it scary without being gruesome, but there appears to be a pretty deep story, as well. I’ve already played part 1 and 2 of the Secrets of the Maw DLC, but unfortunately, the entire game won’t be revealed until 2018. For now, I must simply wait.

15: Okami (October? – Present): Last of all, we have my current game, my second playthrough of one of my personal favorites. Okami is a beautiful game, though I have to wonder…were the controls always so aggravating? Well, it must be a pretty good game if I can forgive the fact that I have to draw a circle 20 times just to make a single lily pad.

What games have you played this year, folks? Feel free to share in the comments below!

8 Comments

Oh yeah, I recently heard about Yooka-Laylee being released on the Switch. I hope they fix the glitches while they’re at it. Some of them were actually pretty funny (such as a certain character appearing twice in a cut scene)…but not all of them were. On second thought, I hope they fix the bothersome glitches and keep the silly ones.

This year I’ve played a few games, but completed even fewer. The ones that stood out for me are: Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted: Lost Legacy and Total War: Warhammer 2.

Its set in a post apocalyptic future, where most of mankind has been wiped out by advanced machines, that look vaguely like animals. You play Aloy, a young woman trying to find out the truth about her parents, as she tries to survive in this world.